


i burn a fever that i caught from you

by tingles



Category: Ghostbusters (2016)
Genre: F/F, Light Angst, Mostly Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-04
Updated: 2016-10-04
Packaged: 2018-08-19 14:28:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8211898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tingles/pseuds/tingles
Summary: Erin kisses Abby after pulling her out of the vortex, but it's never that easy with them.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is just something short I had to get out of my head to take a break from the long-ass polybusters fic I'm writing. I just love Abby and Erin so much and it's such a shame there aren't more stories about them so I guess this is my contribution to the cause.

It all happened terribly fast.

It seemed to Abby like one minute she was falling to a certain death or even worse, stuck in Rowan's gigantic hand, and the next Erin was there, grabbing her arms and pulling her out of the vortex.

The next thing she knew they were falling hard on the street but weirdly she couldn't feel the pain at all. Her mind was just starting to process everything ─she was alive, they had saved the city, why the hell was Erin's hair white─ when she realized Erin was looking at her with this look in her eyes she recognized from a long time ago.

They leaned on each other to get back on their feet, Abby still feeling the intensity of Erin's eyes on hers but unable to look away.  Erin had saved her life. Erin had jumped into the vortex after her and now she was kissing her, cupping her face in her hands, and Abby had lost track of what the hell was going on a while ago but she wasn't going to complain about that.

She kissed her back, hands settling on Erin's hips to steady herself. She didn't know if she was still dizzy because of the vortex or if it was all Erin's lips doing. Erin's lips, and her tongue, that made Abby's knees almost buckle.

It felt like one of those kisses at the end of the movie, and judging by Holtz's loud cheering and Patty clapping when they broke apart it must have looked like that too.

Their teammates ran to hug them, Holtz squeezed Abby with a strength she didn't know the small woman could possess. Erin and her got separated in the midst of it all, but out of the corner of her eye she could see the other woman sneaking glances at her, shyly, as if she hadn't just kissed her in front of Patty, Holtz, and all those soldiers after an epic heroic rescue.

It was so Erin she couldn't help smiling.

Things got even more hectic after that, and it wasn't until late at night that they found themselves back at headquarters. Holtz seemed to be even more hyper than usual, still high on adrenaline, and Patty tried to reign her in as much as she could. Erin was quiet, although she still smiled widely at the other's antics. Abby, to be honest, was mostly nervous. They had saved the city, but all Abby's mind chose to focus and replay was the kiss.

She had no clue about how to feel about it at all.

It would be a lie to say it was something she didn't want. It was _Erin_ after all. Her best friend, her first love, most of her firsts, actually.

But Erin also was her first and toughest heartbreak.

Saving the world from a ghost apocalypse turned out to be an activity that could leave anyone famished. Which made Patty and Holtz leave so they could "find someplace open to buy some food" as they had put it but Abby could guess it translated into something like "leaving you alone with Erin so you can do whatever you have to do", especially because they were _on top of a Chinese restaurant_ and because of the winks Holtzmann kept sending her way weren’t subtle at all.

"Abby, about before..." Erin started hesitantly, taking a couple of steps closer to her. "Can we talk?"

"No need to. If it was just a spur of the moment thing, all that adrenaline I mean we had just barely survived falling down an interdimensional vortex, I totally understand." Abby hated how she couldn't help jumping to the worst conclusion, but she had been burned before.

Erin frowned and lost her momentum for a second. "That's not what I wanted to say. It's not what happened, I promise." Abby got even more nervous when she didn't try to deny it or make less of it because deep down a part of her secretly hoped she would. She knew how to deal with in denial Erin, with her "I'm sorry I don't know what came over me" and "It was not a big deal, right?”. She had no clue about what to do with this Erin though.

"I meant it." She said, looking into her eyes with raw honesty and vulnerability while her hand slowly slid over the table until it found Abby's. "It… it meant something to me."

It wasn’t the first time she had kissed Abby. It was the first time she’d admitted it to be _something_.

Erin was getting closer and Abby was torn. She watched as Erin’s gaze dropped to her lips, her heartbeat so loud she could feel it in her eardrums. It wasn’t until her lips almost grazed Abby’s that she reacted, taking a step back.

“I-I can’t. I’m sorry, Erin, I just.” Her voice threatened to break so she stopped talking and avoided looking at the other woman’s face but not before she saw her heartbroken expression.

Abby couldn’t take it, so she fled.

\---

The truth was simple. Abby was scared.

It was easy for her to forgive Erin when she came back, it was all she ever wanted, but she couldn’t forget about all those years apart. By now, it was like muscle memory waiting for the other shoe to drop and for Erin to leave again.

She knew she was being a coward, avoiding Erin whenever she could and pretending things were just like before whenever the four of them had to be together. They all knew that whatever had been going on between them hadn’t ended well, and Patty and Holtz tried their best to act as buffers and make it easier to keep doing their job until they figured it out.

Holtz had tried to talk some sense into Abby a few times. She insisted she should give Erin a chance, but Abby mostly shrugged noncommittally whenever she brought it up and ignored the knot in her stomach.

 “You want to be with her. She wants to be with you.” Holtz told her as she played with a screwdriver, spinning it between her fingers. “It’s not that hard.”

Abby said nothing. She knew Holtz was trying to help, but she didn’t understand. Erin left. She had almost left again one already. And picking up her pieces had been hard enough after the first time, she didn’t want to have to do it again. She didn’t know if she’d be able to.

“I know you’re scared. But like I said when they told me not to turn on that machine because someone could die, fear is for losers.” She poked at Abby’s side, making her squirm and let out a laugh despite herself.

“Yeah, and then you almost killed a guy.”

“But I wasn’t a loser. So go and win back your girl.”

\---

Abby did think about it. But before she’d convinced herself to get over the stupid panic Erin took her by surprise again.

“Mind if I sit?” A voice she knew too well came from behind her. She was on the rooftop of the fire station, enjoying the fresh air and the view of the bright city lights after a day of working in the lab.

“Sure.” She tried to appear as calm as possible, as if it wasn’t the first time in days that Erin and her had spoken to each other about something that wasn’t work related. They had managed to maintain a façade of normalcy and civility but Abby could tell that fake peace was about to be blown to pieces.

Erin stood right at her side, close but not enough to touch. Abby swore she could still feel the warmth coming off her and not being able to lean into it made her chest ache.

“I’m sorry if I screwed up things when I kissed you.” She said after a tense silence that seemed to last for hours.

“You didn’t screw anything up.”

“It sure feels like it.” Abby swallowed a lump in her throat that tasted like guilt, although Erin didn’t sound like she was blaming her at all. She just seemed resigned.. “I thought it was something you wanted too.”

“I never said I didn’t want it.” She wanted it. She’d wanted it for longer than she could remember, since she was practically just a child who realized she was in love with her best friend.

“Then why are you pushing me away?” Erin’s tone wasn’t accusatory. She probably already knew the answer, probably felt like she deserved it. She just looked at her with those blue eyes all bright and soft. Abby sighed.

“I can’t do this if you’re going to leave again.” She finally said. Erin stayed quiet, waiting for her to let it all out. “I was really messed up when you left. And maybe I’m not as strong as you think I am because I don’t know if I can go through that again, not if I let this become something more.  I’ve wanted this for years. You were everything that I wanted. And I lost hope even before you left, so now I can’t start something just to have it taken away because it would be _too damn hard_.”

Abby took a deep, shaky breath, feeling a little relieved after she’d said all the words that had been echoing inside of her head for days.

“You _are_ everything I’ve ever wanted.” Erin said it so seriously, so sure of herself, that there was no way Abby could doubt it. Her eyes started to water, and she blinked to try to keep the tears away. “I’m just sorry it took me so long to realize that. I know I can’t make up for all that hurt I caused you, but I can promise I’m not leaving again. I’m not. I’m so happy now.” Erin smiled tearfully. “I’m happier than I ever thought I could be. Holtz, Patty and you are the best family I could ever have wished for. I won’t leave. Please give me a chance to prove it.”

It took Abby no more than two seconds to answer, but it felt like an eternity. “Okay.” She finally said, raising a hand to tenderly wipe away the few tears rolling down Erin’s face.

“Really?” Erin almost didn’t dare ask.

Abby tugged her by the collar of her shirt, opting for a more direct answer than words. She kissed Erin softly, taking pleasure in going slow now that she knew they had all the time in the world to keep doing it. She felt Erin wrapping her arms around her waist, pulling her even closer.

Erin rested her forehead on Abby’s, grinning, after they broke the kiss. Abby could only reciprocate the wide smile as she stroke her cheeks with her thumbs.

It took them a while to go back downstairs. When they did and the other two noticed their joined hands Patty let out a loud “Thank God, _finally.”_ and Holtz ran to hug them both with her usual enthusiasm.

Abby couldn’t deny she was still scared. But, she thought as Erin hugged her from behind once Patty and Holtz went back to doing their job, now she knew it was more than worth the risk.


End file.
